SPIERER'S LIST
In 1922 the Greek-Turkish war ends with
With the refugees who settled in Greece
1,500,000 refugees fleeing to Greece and
tobacco cultivation and production has
1,000,000 dead in Pontus and Asia Minor.
grown substantially. In 1926 the sharp rise
Smyrna was burning for 9 days. My tobacco
in the exchange brought substantial profits
factories were protected by the Swiss flag. I
to the tobacco merchants.
used them to shelter hundreds of Greeks
and chartered ships to transfer them to
Greece. I have employed as many refugees
as I could in my factories in Drama,
Thessaloniki and Volos. In 1926 I have
assigned Konrad von Vilas to build a
factory in Aghia Varvara with deep
basements and large storage spaces. Vilas
created a modern factory of 7,500 m2: the
bales are carried with a lift and not
anymore on the shoulders of the workers.
The residents of nearby houses however
opposed the building calling it a
"skyscraper" in the newspaper Tharros.